Medical balloons are used in the body in a variety of applications including as dilatation devices for compressing plaque and for expanding prosthetic devices such as stents at a desired location in a bodily vessel. Because it is typically necessary for the balloon to traverse a tortuous anatomy as it is being delivered to the desired location in the bodily vessel, it is desirable for the balloon to assume as low a profile as possible.
One way to achieve a low profile is by folding the balloon to form a number of wings. In accordance with the prior art, wings may be formed in a partially inflated balloon by imparting an inward radial force about the periphery of the balloon using a plurality of rigid blades which are distributed about the periphery of the balloon. As the blades move radially inward, wings are formed in the balloon.
When forming wings in balloons in this manner, however, special care must be taken to ensure that the blades do not have any sharp edges or burrs which would damage the balloon. Also, caution must be exercised to prevent the blades from applying damaging forces to the balloon and/or any structures underlying the balloon such as markerbands, bonds or hubs. Although the amount of force applied to the balloon may be reduced to avoid damaging the balloon and/or any underlying structures, sufficient force must, nevertheless, be applied to completely form the balloon wings so as to achieve the desired cross-section. As such, a great deal of precision is needed in determining the closed position of the blades. The problem is exacerbated when a single device is to be used to fold balloons on catheters of different cross-sections.
There remains a need for innovative devices for forming balloon folds and for innovative devices which may be used to form balloon folds on catheters of different cross-sections.
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Without limiting the scope of the invention in any way, the invention is briefly summarized in some of its aspects below. Additional details of the invention and/or additional embodiments of the invention may be found in the Detailed Description of the Invention below.
A brief abstract of certain aspects of the technical disclosure in the specification is provided as well for the purposes of complying with 37 C.F.R. 1.72.